ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET BRINGS DIVIDENDS FOR SLOVAKIAN SPA

A Slovakian health spa operator recorded a 15% increase in business from the Middle East last year following its debut showing at Arabian Travel Market, the region’s premier travel and tourism show.

Slovak Health Spa Piestany Inc., said it received 4,220 guests from the region last year and is now eyeing a further 15% rise in Middle East business this year.

"At Arabian Travel Market 2000 we found a partner with whom we began working on a special project," said Machac Frantisek, Sales and Marketing Director, Slovak Health Spa Piestany, Inc. "This year we are returning to the show hoping to extend co-operation with our present partners.

"The Middle East is a strategic target for our company as it represents 15% of our total turnover. There is big demand from the Middle East which has not been fully saturated and we will be looking to introduce ourselves to the travelling public through joint ventures with medical associations and tour operators operating in the spa business."

Arabian Travel Market 2001 will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, United Arab Emirates from May 1-4 this year. To date, exhibitors from 43 nations have registered for the show, which is set to be the biggest in the event’s eight year history.

"The show is maintaining its year-on-year growth momentum," said Matt Thompson, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market. "It is winning new exhibitors, most notably this year from Belgium and Brazil. We are targeting contracted floor space growth of between 12-15 % on last year’s record-breaking event."

Arabian Travel Market is organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions, (RTE), part of the Reed Exhibitions Companies Ltd. (Rec), which manages over 450 events in 30 countries, serving over 55 different industry sectors with some 112,000 exhibiting companies and over eight million visitors.

As a member of the Reed Elsevier Plc Group, the world-leading business and information providers, REC is unique in offering integrated market access programmes covering exhibitions, trade publications, direct marketing and the Internet.